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News India Times
July 17, 2015
– that’s all you need to know
Arts & Entertainment
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar
– MUMBAI
he hero of S.S.
Rajamouli’s most recent
filmwas a fly – a garish,
computer generated
pink fly which caused
traffic accidents and blew up
houses. “Eega” (Fly), which ini-
tially released in Telugu and later
dubbed as “Makkhi” in Hindi,
was one of the most successful
films of 2013, breaking all
records in the Telugu film indus-
try and gathering quite a decent
amount for the Hindi version as
well.
The story of a man being
reborn as a fly and taking
revenge on those who killed him
might seem outlandish to many,
but for Rajamouli, it was com-
pelling enough to turn into a
movie.
The film’s success vindicated
his decision, and it caught the
attention of Bollywood, which in
recent years has struggled to
churn out hits and is constantly
looking for the next big idea.
Rajamouli’s next film,
“Bahubali” (The one with strong
arms), a two-part epic fantasy
that has a combined budget of
more than 2.5 billion rupees
($39.3 million), is being released
all over India by Bollywood pro-
ducer Karan Johar and distribu-
tor Anil Thadani.
“It is the need of the film-
maker to reach as many people
as he can. After ‘Magadheera’,
everyone in the industry knew
me and my work. ‘Makkhi’ got
me a foothold, and now that
‘Bahubali’ has the backing of
someone like Mr Johar, I think it
will help me reach that bigger
audience,” Rajamouli said in an
interview.
In the past, the 41 year-old
film-maker has made fantasy
films like “Magadheera”
(Warrior) that had big stars and a
big budget with lots of special
effects, but also films like
“Maryada Ramanna”, a small-
budget filmwith a comedian in
the lead role, later re-made in
Hindi as “Son of Sardar”.
Stars, or the lack of them in
films, don’t seem to matter to
Rajamouli. “For me, the emo-
tions have to be correct.When I
start a film, that is what I think
about – whether this story is
correct for these characters or
not,” he said.
Rajamouli’s films are known
for their scale and sleek produc-
tion, wooing audiences in South
India with a mixture of action,
fantasy and racy dance num-
bers.
“He’s taking risks that no one
else in this industry is taking at
the moment. His way of story-
telling is unlike what we see in
the Hindi film industry these
days, and a film like ‘Bahubali’,
especially, has a subject that will
appeal to audiences pan-India,”
said distributor Anil Thadani,
who is releasing the film in the
Bombay territory.
Rajamouli, with salt-and-
pepper hair and a calm, almost
monk-like demeanour, has
given as many as 20 interviews
in a day but shows no signs of
fatigue, answering with patience
and avoiding monosyllables.
“We aren’t used to so much
publicity down south. Having
stars on your poster is usually
enough,” Rajamouli said with a
laugh, while admitting that
things work differently in
Bollywood, whether it is publici-
ty campaigns or the audience’s
taste.
“If you are talking about sen-
sibilities, they are different.
Here, people like it a little more
subtle in terms of emotion or
colour or whatever …Down
south, it’s a little louder, but that
is just to do with the culture.”
But trying to appeal to a
broader audience hasn’t led him
to change his style, and he is
hopeful that moviegoers all over
the country will lap up his fan-
tasy fare. “When ‘Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ came,
they changed nothing for the
international audience, but the
emotions were right, and that’s
why it worked,” Rajamouli said.
“The emotions have to be
correct.”
– Reuters
T
Telugu Cinema’s “Hit-machine” Rajamouli Comes To Bollywood
‘Bahubali’ Is Top-class Entertainment And Spectacle
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar
– MUMBAI
T
he world of S S
Rajamouli’s “Bahubali” is
decidedly strange – there
are arid plains alongside cas-
cading waterfalls, and tropical
gardens magically emerge from
snow-clad mountains. But the
Telugu director’s imaginary
world in the first film of a two-
part epic fantasy fits in so well
with the story that such dis-
crepancies don’t matter.
For two-and-a-half hours,
“Bahubali” (which means the
one with strong arms) consis-
tently delivers top-class enter-
tainment and spectacle, which
is not true of any movie to have
come out of Bollywood in a
long, long time. Rajamouli’s
scale and vision are as towering
as the waterfall that forms a
crucial part of the film’s back-
drop.
The film’s biggest achieve-
ment comes from the fact that
it marries Hollywood’s
grandeur of scale with an
inherently Indian tale of good
and evil. The use of computer-
generated imagery to depict the
tale of ancient kingdoms and
bloody wars is clearly inspired
from the Ridley Scott and
“Gladiator” school of film-mak-
ing. And the result is a near-
perfect mix of entertainment.
Shivudu Bahubali (Prabhas)
lives at the foot of a massive
waterfall that fascinates and
frustrates him at the same time
because he is never able to
scale the slippery rocks or the
mountain.
But when he eventually
makes it to the top of the
mountain, he discovers a king-
dom in turmoil. Bhallaladeva
(Rana Daggubati), the despotic
king of Mahishmati, has
imprisoned Queen Devasena
(Anushka Shetty) for many
years now. Shivudu, unaware of
his connection to the kingdom,
spends his days wooing
Avanthika (Tamannaah Bhatia),
one of the followers of the
queen. But when he replaces
her in a mission to rescue
Devasena, his past unknowing-
ly catches up with him.
In spite of intense visual
effects, Rajamouli never lets the
story slacken, revealing twist
after twist right until the end.
He uses every single cliché –
song and dance, mother-son
bond, good-versus-evil battle
and sibling rivalry – but doesn’t
stereotype them.
The cast blends perfectly
with the look of the film.
Prabhas is the perfect man,
with rippling muscles and
washboard abs, displaying
charm and intensity with equal
ease.
Daggubati looks menacing
and Bhatia has more to do than
just simper and smile, which is
a big deal for a movie like this.
In fact, the women in
“Bahubali” are more than just
decorative items, which is
worth applauding, because it is
easy to make it into a film
about machismo.
The film, produced by Karan
Johar and Anil Thadani, is an
adrenaline rush, a spectacle of
the kind we haven’t seen from
an Indian film-maker before
and hopefully it is a sign of
good things to come. Rajamouli
ends the filmwith a cliffhanger
so that you buy tickets to the
sequel that comes out next
year. The Telugu film released
in cinemas on July 10 and has
been dubbed into Hindi and
other languages.
– Reuters
